If you've been reading my LJ for any length of time you probably already know how special "A Chorus Line" is to me. It was seeing this show at the age of 13 that started my love of musical theatre. The show definitely holds a VERY special place in my heart. And for that reason, Mark & I just had to buy tickets when we heard that the local Army Community Theatre was staging it.

Of course, having seen and loved this show for so long, I had VERY high expectations going in, but I have to say that it was a pretty good production and I was pretty impressed! Some of my takes on the individual performances that really stood out to me.

The "Paul" - to me, makes or breaks any production of ACL... and this "Paul" was a favorite local actor/dancer of mine (Chris Villasenor - who I'd previously seen in many DHT productions...) He must have seen the Jason Tam audition video from "Every Little Step" because his monologue was exactly the same, down to the facial expressions and the gestures. :) Although, I'm a bit biased with Jason and think that he's the ultimate Paul, I thought Chris was EXCELLENT in the role was VERY convincing... and I have to say,... boy can that guy dance!! I swear, he dances SO effortlessly - he's AMAZING! I was so glad that I saw his performance.

The "Greg" in this production was INCREDIBLE! Of course I like Michael from the broadway revival, but this guy... and I apologize because I didn't have a playbill and don't know his name, what a shame! But he was ALWAYS in character, even when the attention was not focused on him! He was BETTER than anyone I'd seen, on Broadway, in the touring cast... ANYONE - and that's really something. I LOVED that during "Dance 10; Looks 3" when Val comes over to dance near him, he's cleaning his glasses, looking VERY bored and specifically not looking at her. HYSTERICAL! And his, "Don't you want to feel anything else? And then I thought... No!" It was hysterical... the best and funniest I've seen. Love that he added several moments of looking disgusted after his line... :D Truly great.

Autumn Ogawa was a beautiful Cassie, though she felt a bit too young to be really convincing in the role (not her fault at all - and she was wonderful) her dancing was absolutely gorgeous, but I've actually seen Donna McKechnie perform the dance live and... WOW. It's awfully hard to beat that...

All in all it was a GREAT local production and I'm so glad that Mark & I were able to see it! :)